"I don't see my age as being a liability; if anything I am the story of District 4," said Garcia, who works at Dallas County Promise. "I am the graduate of DISD. I am the student who is now walking in my footsteps through the hallways of our schools, and I now get to make and inform decisions that will affect them and those to come."

The seat has been vacant for four months, since former trustee Jaime Resendez stepped down after moving out of the far southeast Dallas district. Resendez was already planning to leave at the end of his term because he was seeking a Dallas City Council seat. He won that seat in May.

Garcia said addressing racial equity would be her first priority as a trustee, praising the school board's recent investment in the district's Racial Equity Office. She said she wants to use the investment as a way to address the root of disparities in education she sees across her district.

The runoff came after a crowded May 4 general election, in which Garcia won with 44% of the vote. But she fell short of the 50-percent threshold, forcing Saturday's runoff against White, who finished with 34%.

Garcia had led White in fundraising throughout the campaign.

One of her largest donations was $6,000 from Ascend PAC. The Washington, D.C.-based political action committee supports Democrats in local elections across the country, including recently elected DISD trustee Ben Mackey and Resendez.

Some residents raised questions about Garcia's residency during the campaign season. Garcia filed to run for the trustee position less than a year after she graduated from the University of North Carolina. Candidates must have lived in the district they want to represent for at least a year, but Texas law and court rulings have made residency difficult to define.

Ruth Torres, a politically active resident in the district, filed the complaint against Garcia with the Dallas County district attorney's office, alleging that the candidate had made fraudulent claims and possibly committed other violations by filing two separate applications to run for the District 4 seat. A spokeswoman for the DA's office said she could not comment on the matter because it is a pending investigation.

Paul Cobler, Politics Reporting Fellow. Paul Cobler covers politics for The Dallas Morning News in Washington, DC. Paul is a recent graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in journalism. While there, he worked at the school's student newspaper, The Daily Texan, and interned for newspapers across the state.